MORRIS COUNTY — In a 11-4 vote Thursday night, the state’s Highlands Council appointed former Morris County Freeholder Margaret Nordstrom as its deputy executive director.

Although environmental spokesmen and some council members bitterly complained that the process by which she was appointed as a foregone conclusion, nearly all acknowledged Nordstrom has a positive record on open space.

The council enforces the Highlands Act, which restricts development in an 860,000-acre area spanning seven counties in northern New Jersey that supplies water to more than half the state’s residents.

Nordstrom’s was the council’s second major appointment in the past two months of a past or present Morris County freeholder. In April, the council named as its executive director Freeholder Gene Feyl, who recommended Nordstrom for the $92,000-a-year post.

Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club, had predicted just six days after Feyl’s appointment that Nordstrom would become his new deputy. Yesterday he accused Gov. Chris Christie of being behind the move and said "the fix was in" and "the search was a charade."

Council member Carl Richko, a former mayor of West Milford, said the Morris freeholder board has become "the farm team" for the Highlands Council. Although opposing her appointment, Richko acknowledged Nordstrom has "a good background in land preservation."

Also voting against Nordstrom were members Tracy Carluccio, Michael Dressler and Michael Sebetich.

Julia Somers, executive director of an environmental advocacy group, the New Jersey Highlands Coalition, attended the meeting but did not oppose the appointment. Questioned later, she said, "People are torn because of the process.

"Margaret has earned a lot of support and respect in the environmental community because of her work in land preservation," Somers said.

As mayor of Washington Township between 1994 and 1999, Nordstrom "played a major role in protecting land there and keeping the township the way it is," Somers said. Nordstrom said one of her key achievements was preserving the 800-acre Scott Farm.

Nordstrom, 63, thanked the council for the appointment and called the new post her "dream job.

Feyl, at his first meeting as director after stepping down as freeholder less than a week ago, said he had received 19 resumes for the post and interviewed four candidates.

Feyl said he based his recommendation of Nordstrom on her "professional qualifications" and "exceptional knowledge of the Highlands Act."

Carluccio, one of Nordstrom’s opponents and the deputy director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, said Nordstrom had been part of a "county task force" that opposed passage of the Highlands Act in 2004.

Nordstrom called Carluccio’s comments "mostly inaccurate" and said her group was only seeking "more input" from people directly affected by the act when it was adopted.

Nordstrom, a freeholder from 1999 through 2012, pointed out Morris County did not join in lawsuits attempting to overturn the Highlands Act after it was passed.

As deputy director, Nordstrom replaces Tom Borden, who resigned in protest in March after the council had voted to remove Eileen Swan as executive director, despite vehement criticism from environmentalists.